So the Bible is pretty clear that we are to love everyone, especially our enemies. I always seem to skip that part, since I don{t really know who my enemies are. But today I realized that my enemy is not necessarily a particular person, but a person who has a particular mindset. I have never been very outspoken or gone to human rights rallies, or protested testing on animals, but living here in Chile has shown me just how passionate i am about a few things. One of them is anti-racism. I met a man on the bus today. He was reading a book and so was I, so we started talking. He was probably in his sixties and I soon found out that his parents came here from England just before he was born. I am not sure how or why the topic came up, but we were suddenly talking about "negros" which is how they say black people here.
Even now, a good half an hour after the conversation, I am blushing in anger. This man was SO racist! I mean I have never met someone so absolutly rasicst. He basically told me that black people, meaning in the states, or in Africa, have no culture and that white people are superior. He used those words! He said that all black people are lazy and the poor white people are having to support them. I asked him how many black people he knew, and he said a few. Yeah, I can bet you bascially anything that 90% of what he knows about black culture comes from the films he watched. The conversation lasted for the whole 30 minutes of the bus ride, and I won't let myself go off into details of the ridiculous things he said. But basically as I walked away from the conversation i was almost laughing in shock of how racist he was. And I felt the Lord asking me if I could love this person that I was so tempted to despise. I know I am not called to love the racism, but the person himself is just another sinner like me. He obvioulsy hasn't tasted of the grace and love of the Lord, and I am called to love him. Difficult? yes, but necessary. If I am truly living in the grace of God, I will love those in my life, even the ones I want to hate.
Even now, a good half an hour after the conversation, I am blushing in anger. This man was SO racist! I mean I have never met someone so absolutly rasicst. He basically told me that black people, meaning in the states, or in Africa, have no culture and that white people are superior. He used those words! He said that all black people are lazy and the poor white people are having to support them. I asked him how many black people he knew, and he said a few. Yeah, I can bet you bascially anything that 90% of what he knows about black culture comes from the films he watched. The conversation lasted for the whole 30 minutes of the bus ride, and I won't let myself go off into details of the ridiculous things he said. But basically as I walked away from the conversation i was almost laughing in shock of how racist he was. And I felt the Lord asking me if I could love this person that I was so tempted to despise. I know I am not called to love the racism, but the person himself is just another sinner like me. He obvioulsy hasn't tasted of the grace and love of the Lord, and I am called to love him. Difficult? yes, but necessary. If I am truly living in the grace of God, I will love those in my life, even the ones I want to hate.
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